Old power tool disposal

[Sandy H.]

I have some old power tools from the early 2000's and, of course, battery technology has moved on to the point that a 12V NiCad powered drill isn't worth rebuilding the battery pack on. I know you can drop off the battery packs at various places for recycling, but what about the tool itself? Seems like most places say to just throw them out, but I hate anything going into a landfill if it will just be there a hundred years from now.

Years ago, I would have broken the tool down, taken the drill chuck, bearings etc. and then put the plastic parts in the recycle bin. Now, I have enough random bearings, switches, drill chucks etc.

So, does anybody have a good idea of the best way to get the tools into the hands of people who would either make a frankenstein project or would feel like it was worth the effort to rebuild the battery packs and use the tools? We're just talking 2 drills and a flashlight at the moment, but it is very likely I have a couple of others laying around, as I moved to the Lithium 20V system quite a while back, so any 12, 14.4 or 18V tools are likely never going to be touched again, given the great power/life/recharge time of the newer stuff.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Sandy.

 

[boatgeek]

People on the Craigslist Free Stuff section will take anything. Almost literally.

 

[heada]

Take the copper off the motor windings and sell it for scrap. Might get $1 or 2. I doubt the rest is even worth that.

 

[Sandy H.]

I completely understand both of your options, but was hopeful that there was something better I didn't know about. Something like a program where people learn how a motor works by breaking it down and rebuilding it or a Makerspace thing where people would come in once a week and break stuff down into parts that others could use for free. I know, pie in the sky hopes, but the only thing making these tools 'useless' is that the battery technology is outdated. They are still valid DC motors, gearboxes, bearings, chucks etc.

When I was a kid, I knew the triangle meant something was recyclable and the number inside meant whatever type of recycling. In college, I learned that the triangle intended the meaning of 'reduce, re-use, recycle' so recycling was the worst option, the best was reduce the use of the thing or at least re-use it.

I'm definitely not trying to be an activist saying we all should #enter whatever thing here#, I'm just wishing there is a way to try to move something from my possession to someone else who could use it for its intended purpose or use the majority of the parts for a functional purpose. Sure, if I send it to some recycling center, it will either get put in a landfill intact or sent to some country where slave labor breaks the valuable stuff down to use and the rest goes in a landfill or gets burned. All the while, some person somewhere is wishing they had an extra 14.4V motor and gearbox for a project he/she is making that will do something cool, but its not worth it for them to spend $100 on a new drill, so they give up, shelve what would ultimately be the cure for cancer and watch TV instead. Obviously, that is tongue in cheek, but it is a drill with a bad battery. Somebody needs a drill or motor or chuck etc. I wish I knew how to get it from here to that person.

Back in the day, there were swap meets and things like that where people would actually buy or trade stuff to actually use it, not to just break it down for material and discard the rest.

I'm open to ALL suggestions, so I absolutely appreciate the responses so far, in case it was not obvious from the above. I'm just feeling personally frustrated that I don't know how to pass along some generally functional things that would have been a huge help for me when I was younger. When I was young, I'd be thrilled to pay a couple of dollars for a broken drill and take it apart, replace the brushes and the frayed power cord. I now owned a drill! Next, I went looking for a saw. Now, it seems like this stuff has little benefit to anyone, which feels wrong. . .

Sandy.

 

[rharshberger]

Post a picture of what you have some of it may be something I can use.

 

[Sandy H.]

Pic attached of a few I had handy, but not saying this is everything I'm talking about. This was intended as more of a 'how do I get things moved somewhere' vs. a yardsale post. The goal is to give stuff away, not to sell it, but the main objective was to find out good resources for the general process, not to simply move these particular items.

Sandy.

 

[rharshberger]

Re-Use or Re-Purposing is always better than Recycle, but in the event you have to go the recycle route maney recycling places will take power tools and electronics.

 

[teepot]

I give stuff like that to Goodwill. As long as it works. Even if the battery is old tech. Someone who needs one and doesn't have any can use it.

 

[Cape Byron]

First choice - List it all for free on your local community noticeboard.

Then - I have a milk crate full of keyless chucks from old cordless drills. Done a couple of conversions on old power drills to keyless chucks, but basically I'm just a hoarder.

Break them down. Keep chucks. Cases in bin. Batteries to an appropriate recycle centre.

That all said, I do have an old Bosch cordless running Frankenstein batteries from other drills. Not much gets wasted out in the sticks.

 

[Sandy H.]

That all said, I do have an old Bosch cordless running Frankenstein batteries from other drills. Not much gets wasted out in the sticks.

That is how I feel it was when I grew up where I did. Regretfully, I have less space than I need to move forward on other projects, but hate to throw stuff away. I'm all about giving it away, though.

As far as the community notice board. . . not that common around here. Honestly, people rarely return a wave when you drive past them while they are out walking their dog anymore. More often they look away or look at you wondering why you are rude enough to drive down the street they are walking their dog on. I was here 20 years before their houses were built on the area that was supposedly a preserved area, but what do I know. . .

Sandy.

 

[Cape Byron]

That is how I feel it was when I grew up where I did. Regretfully, I have less space than I need to move forward on other projects, but hate to throw stuff away. I'm all about giving it away, though.

My Dad's attitude was, "Try and fix it yourself. It's already broken."

Haven't been able to pass that on to the youth in a lot of situations, but sometimes it works. I have a washing machine here that is up for 'One Last Repair Attempt' tomorrow, and that's the third time I've said that in as many days.

I grew up dirt poor on a dairy farm. It taught me the value of fixing things and I think it's sad that we live in such a consumerist society that it's okay to chuck something without even trying to fix it.

Rant over. Back to your scheduled programming.

 

[Sandy H.]

My Dad's attitude was, "Try and fix it yourself. It's already broken."

[snip]

I heard "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, you **** well better fix it, 'cause you can't afford another." Not from my dad, but from a few others when growing up.

Sandy.

 

[Hobie1dog]

In most European countries I understand that recycling is mandatory and if you don't recycle you will be fined, so in America we have the opposite type of indoctrination where we simply throw everything in the trash when we are done with it.
Watch this short video on what it looks like to throw away the plastic bottles every minute:

 

[Funkworks]

Maybe Best Buy. Because of how big they are, I assume they have a good program to sort things where they belong.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/services/recycling/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025
I'd ask Home Depot for fun, but not with great expectations.
(whenever someone says "green", you know they don't see it as a default option).

https://www.homedepot.com/c/electronics_recycling_programs

 

[Scott_650]

Even though recycling isn’t your first choice, check with your regional solid waste disposal district (that’s what they’re called in our state - YMMV). Our drop-off site takes old electronics (but only lead-acid batteries - any other batteries have to go elsewhere). At least they’ll make sure the stuff doesn’t end up as a potential contaminate and the reusable bits won’t go to waste.

 

[boatgeek]

I completely understand both of your options, but was hopeful that there was something better I didn't know about. Something like a program where people learn how a motor works by breaking it down and rebuilding it or a Makerspace thing where people would come in once a week and break stuff down into parts that others could use for free. I know, pie in the sky hopes, but the only thing making these tools 'useless' is that the battery technology is outdated. They are still valid DC motors, gearboxes, bearings, chucks etc.

When I was a kid, I knew the triangle meant something was recyclable and the number inside meant whatever type of recycling. In college, I learned that the triangle intended the meaning of 'reduce, re-use, recycle' so recycling was the worst option, the best was reduce the use of the thing or at least re-use it.

I'm definitely not trying to be an activist saying we all should #enter whatever thing here#, I'm just wishing there is a way to try to move something from my possession to someone else who could use it for its intended purpose or use the majority of the parts for a functional purpose. Sure, if I send it to some recycling center, it will either get put in a landfill intact or sent to some country where slave labor breaks the valuable stuff down to use and the rest goes in a landfill or gets burned. All the while, some person somewhere is wishing they had an extra 14.4V motor and gearbox for a project he/she is making that will do something cool, but its not worth it for them to spend $100 on a new drill, so they give up, shelve what would ultimately be the cure for cancer and watch TV instead. Obviously, that is tongue in cheek, but it is a drill with a bad battery. Somebody needs a drill or motor or chuck etc. I wish I knew how to get it from here to that person.

Back in the day, there were swap meets and things like that where people would actually buy or trade stuff to actually use it, not to just break it down for material and discard the rest.

I'm open to ALL suggestions, so I absolutely appreciate the responses so far, in case it was not obvious from the above. I'm just feeling personally frustrated that I don't know how to pass along some generally functional things that would have been a huge help for me when I was younger. When I was young, I'd be thrilled to pay a couple of dollars for a broken drill and take it apart, replace the brushes and the frayed power cord. I now owned a drill! Next, I went looking for a saw. Now, it seems like this stuff has little benefit to anyone, which feels wrong. . .

Sandy.

If you want to get the tools in the hands of people who will Frankenstein them together into something useful, then Craigslist Free is probably your best choice. At least out here, that’s where you find the scavengers and tinkers.

When we were cleaning out my grandma’s house in the Chicago area, there wasn’t any municipal recycling service. However, you could put metal stuff and other reusables out on curb separate from the recycling and “metal men” would come by in the night, pick it up, and break it down for resale. If there’s a community like that where you are, that’s another good option.

(Edit) In either case I listed above, the tools are more valuable and more likely to be picked up and reused if they have their batteries included.

 

[lakeroadster]

As a side note: Battery powered hand tools are handy, but corded power tools will almost last forever.

The only cordless tools I own is a DeWalt drill and driver. And I have a lot of tools... and lots of extension chords. In the event the chords don't reach.... the Honda generator will.

 

[Peartree]

I'll echo what several others have said, but my choices are usually 1) donate to someplace charitable such as Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, etc. if it's still usable. b) disassemble and add to the pile that I take to the scrap yard twice each year. c) the keyless chuck I would keep because they make really nice bases for launch pads. d) plastic and other recyclables go to the curb in the recycling bin and parts that aren't recyclable go in the trash.

 

[rharshberger]

As a side note: Battery powered hand tools are handy, but corded power tools will almost last forever.

The only cordless tools I own is a DeWalt drill and driver. And I have a lot of tools... and lots of extension chords. In the event the chords don't reach.... the Honda generator will.

+1, thats great for the homeowner, not so much for the craftsman. In a modern construction world where production is important battery powered tools rule, not only for easy of power supply but also for safety (cords strung every where on construction sites suck (I remember starting out in that environment as a young construction worker). Each day the cords had to be rolled out and at the end of the day rolled up and put away, both losses in production. My first battery powered drill driver allowed me to screw down flooring for about an hour each battery, with 3-4 batteries a quick battery change kept me working all day (not that screwing down floor was an all day every day event).

 

[lakeroadster]

+1, thats great for the homeowner, not so much for the craftsman. In a modern construction world where production is important battery powered tools rule, not only for easy of power supply but also for safety (cords strung every where on construction sites suck (I remember starting out in that environment as a young construction worker). Each day the cords had to be rolled out and at the end of the day rolled up and put away, both losses in production. My first battery powered drill driver allowed me to screw down flooring for about an hour each battery, with 3-4 batteries a quick battery change kept me working all day (not that screwing down floor was an all day every day event).

I agree, for a construction site. For most of the folks on this site, that's not the case.

If you're not on a construction site, and you're frugal and on a budget, buying quality corded tools is the smart choice.

 

[DigBaddy]

I agree, for a construction site. For most of the folks on this site, that's not the case.

If you're not on a construction site, and you're frugal and on a budget, buying quality corded tools is the smart choice.

Please try tapping a few hundred maple trees with corded power tools

Statement made totally tongue in cheek

Back to on-topic; perhaps some of the battery packs can be disassembled and new LiOn cells put in to breathe new life into them? Even 12v with fresh battery cells would still be useful. Or, rig up an AC-DC power source to make them corded if the batteries are shot.

 

[rharshberger]

I agree, for a construction site. For most of the folks on this site, that's not the case.

If you're not on a construction site, and you're frugal and on a budget, buying quality corded tools is the smart choice.

No doubt, and always buy the best quality tool you can afford....I have been collecting tools for 35 years....

In that 35 years I have bought two corded drills (3/8" Dewalt and a 1/2" Milwaukee), both are still going strong, in the same period I have bought 5 cordless Dewalt drills (all still work, and I have rebuilt/repaired all of them at least once). I also have inherited a number of 50+ year old corded tools certain parts are hard to get now but they still work.

 

[MidOH]

Depends on the tool and where the voltage cut off is. Putting a lipo into an unregulated impact tool is fun.

Your power tool can be tossed into a dumpster. By the time landfills are an actual problem, we can shovel all of them right into a fusion reactor. They'll be the mines of the future. For a year or two, maybe.

 

[lakeroadster]

Please try tapping a few hundred maple trees with corded power tools

(lol)

 

[boatgeek]

Along those lines, these are my cordless drills. For some reason, the batteries don’t last as long as they used to. The small one has a new handle that I turned on a friend’s lathe. I use it fairly often. The big one is not very usable since it has the old-style square chuck. I mainly keep it as a curiosity. It does have 6 speeds (2 gear positions and three handle positions).

 

[Funkworks]

I wish cordless tools had a display showing how much power they're consumming and how much charge is left.

 

[DigBaddy]

(lol)
View attachment 541304

Yup, used one when I was a kid. The holes would no way be round enough and clean enough for modern tubing setups.

 

[MidOH]

I wish cordless tools had a display showing how much power they're consumming and how much charge is left.

My Milwaukee Ratchet has a charge indicator.

 

[linville86]

Another option, You can buy adapters that convert your 18v tool from nicad to lithium. Dewalt sells a good one that comes in a set with two batteries and a charger. The safety circuit is in the adapter.
I personally bought an after market black and decker adapter for some 18v lawn tools I wasn’t ready to let go. From what little research I did, it seems the safety circuit is in the BnD lithium batteries. Just don’t use the old chargers.

 

[rharshberger]

I have some old power tools from the early 2000's and, of course, battery technology has moved on to the point that a 12V NiCad powered drill isn't worth rebuilding the battery pack on. I know you can drop off the battery packs at various places for recycling, but what about the tool itself? Seems like most places say to just throw them out, but I hate anything going into a landfill if it will just be there a hundred years from now.

Years ago, I would have broken the tool down, taken the drill chuck, bearings etc. and then put the plastic parts in the recycle bin. Now, I have enough random bearings, switches, drill chucks etc.

So, does anybody have a good idea of the best way to get the tools into the hands of people who would either make a frankenstein project or would feel like it was worth the effort to rebuild the battery packs and use the tools? We're just talking 2 drills and a flashlight at the moment, but it is very likely I have a couple of others laying around, as I moved to the Lithium 20V system quite a while back, so any 12, 14.4 or 18V tools are likely never going to be touched again, given the great power/life/recharge time of the newer stuff.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Sandy.

As a heads up, the Dewalt 14.4V and 18V tools will both work on 18V power (they have the same motor, I used to do power tool repair at a Dewalt reapir center) I used to change out the case on the 14.4 to the 18V case (so the 18V battery would fit)to add tools to my collection cheaply. The adapter with the lithium batteries will wor in the 18V Dewalts as indicated.